The first two races at Welland Yacht Club were in pursuit format, with competitors starting in order of handicap, with the slowest boats first.
Will Stabler and Toby Schrauwers were first away in their laser 4.7s, followed 20 seconds later by Richard Stedman in his Comet. He swiftly erased the deficit and led the fleet on the beat to Shelly’s Bush.
It was lead he did not relinquish for the remainder of the race, finishing ahead of Alan Chapman in his Laser Radial, Andy Prior and Harry Jackson, who had started last in their Lark, Andy Agar, in his OK, Alistair Mitchell’s Laser Radial, and Adam Stabler was sixth in a ILCA 7.
After him came the Laser 2000 of Neil Tack and Rebecca Slater, followed by Alan Cox and James Ramp, both in Laser Radials, Will Stabler, Piotr Wojtowicz, in a ILCA 7, with Schrauwers completing the finishers in 12th place.
The second race saw a slight increase in the wind, which seemed to suit Prior and Jackson in their Lark and they were soon slicing through the field chasing Stedman.
The pair utilised the extra downwind pace of their spinnaker to finally get past Stedman to take victory, with Mitchell third and Agar taking a second consecutive fourth place.
Chapman, still buoyant from his second place in race one (despite sailing without any batons in his sail), was holding on to fifth place until a gust hit him as he tacked and made him lose his grip on the tiller and his boat bore away hard, T-boning Adam Stabler and forcing Chapman to execute some penalty turns, relegating him to ninth place.
It was Cox who eventually finished fifth, followed by Will Stabler, Adam Stabler, Ramp, Chapman, Tack and Slater, Wojtowicz and Schrauwers.
Nine boats took to the water for the final race, with a switch to a regular fleet star in the Afternoon Points Series.
With the wind staying steady straight down the river, Schrauwers nailed the start but then tangled with Ramp in a port starboard incident and had to execute two penalty turns, dropping him to the back of the fleet.
That left Agar in the lead as the sun peeked through the clouds for the first time. He took advantage to sail away to victory, with Stedman second and youngster Ramp, competing in only his seventh race, claiming his first podium.
The top three stayed the same after handicaps were applied, with the other places taken by Cox, Adam Stabler, Tack and Slater, Prior and Jackson, Wojtowicz and Schrauwers.
That completed the Afternoon Points Series and saw Prior and Jackson take first place with three wins and a seventh, followed by Cox, Adam Stabler, Tack and Slater.
Four u15s were competing, showing the club’s attraction to all ages.
Anyone wishing to give sailing a go is invited to an open day on May 17 for a free taster session. Any members signing up on the day will receive a 25 per cent discount on their membership fee.
